Maria Gaidar Resigns As Lawmaker In Ukraine's Odesa Region

Maria Gaidar, a prominent Russian-born politician and activist, has resigned her seat in the legislature of Ukraine's Odesa region.

The Odesa region assembly said on June 12 that it has relieved Gaidar of her duties as a lawmaker at her request.

Gaidar filed the request on June 10. The reasons for her decision have not been made public.

Gaidar, 35, is the daughter of the late Yegor Gaidar, an economic reformer who was acting prime minister under Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1992.

A vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, she is a former deputy governor of Russia's Kirov region.

Gaidar served as acting deputy governor of the Odesa region from July 2015 to May 2016. After she obtained Ukrainian citizenship in 2015, she renounced her Russian citizenship.

Gaidar resigned as deputy governor in May 2016 after a new law barring regional lawmakers from simultaneously holding state posts took effect, but she remained in the regional administration as an adviser to then-Governor Mikheil Saakashvili.

Saakashvili resigned in November 2016, accusing the Ukrainiain government of undermining his efforts to fight corruption and carry out reforms, and has become an ardent opponent of President Petro Poroshenko.